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Unlikely gay marriage pioneers tied knot in Houston
Politics // Texas Politics
By Lauren McGaughy Nov. 29, 2014 Updated: Dec. 1, 2014 6:02 p.m.
1of9On Oct. 6, 1972, Mr. Antonio Molina, left, and Mr. William "Billie" Ert were married in Texas' first record same-sex marriage. Rev. Richard Vincent of the Dallas Metropolitan Community Church officiated the event for Molina, a former high school linebacker and Navy veteran from Brownsville, and Ert, a female impersonator and nightclub performer.Photo: Universal Entertainment Agency
2of9Molina and Ert's marriage gained national attention. This article from the Oct. 9, 1972 Straits Times (Singapore) shows the two holding the marriage certificate they received from the clerk in Wharton County. That clerk would later refuse to file the certificate, claiming he and others did not know the couple were of the same-sex because Ert was dressed as a woman. "You're confronted with all kinds of characters these days," Clerk Delfin Marek told the Nuntius, a gay publication printed in Houston.Photo: Straits Times
3of9The ceremony took place at the Harmony Wedding Chapel, a small chapel off Gulf Freeway about 15 minutes from downtown Houston.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle
4of9William"Billie" Ert, a female impersonator and nightclub performer, was married to Antonio Molina in Texas in 1973.Photo: DAVID Magazine, photo provided by Universal Entertainment Agency, Houston, Texas
5of9Attempts by reporters and historians to locate birth and death records for William Ert have been unsuccessful. This picture of Ert from the early 1970s is the only known photograph showing the stage actor without his wig and makeup.Photo: December 1972 DAVID Magazine, photo provided by Universal Entertainment Agency, Houston, Texas
6of9This photo from May 1973 shows Molina, far left, and Ert, dressed as Mr. Vicki Karr, meeting the famous singer on whom the latter based his stage personality during an appearance on C.B.S. TV-Houston. Reached for comment, Vicki Carr's representatives said "she vaguely recollects meeting this person" but was unable to offer furhter detail.Photo: May 1973 DAVID Magazine
7of9After Molina and Ert lost their court case in May 1973, their story's trail goes mostly cold. The last newspaper article written about the couple came in October 1973, when it was reported Ert attempted to kill himself after Molina left him. "I just shut my eyes and pulled the trigger," Ert told a friend. Ert was convalescing at a Houston-area hospital, according to the article.Photo: UPI article found in the Brownsville Herald
8of9Ert might have attempted suicide in 1973, but he was still performing as Mr. Vicki Carr in 1975. Ert appeared on the cover of the October 1975 edition of "This Week in Texas," a Houston-area gay publication. A listing inside showed Ert was performing at local nightclub Ursula's.Photo: Photo courtesy of J.D. Doyle, Houston LGBT Historian
9of9William "Billie" Ert died after a lengthy illness on Sept. 12, 1972. Ert had returned to Canada before his death and had been seeking treatment at the M.D. Anderson Cancer and Tumor Research Center, according a report in the Nov. 3, 1976, Advocate. The report mentioned Ert and Molina's marriage, but did not mention whether the couple retained ties before his death.
AUSTIN - More than 40 years ago in a small chapel off the Gulf Freeway, a hulking ex-tackle from Brownsville slid a ring onto the finger of his partner, transforming the slight man wearing a blond bouffant wig standing opposite him into his husband. In their hands they clasped the first marriage license ever given to a same-sex couple in Texas.
The story of Antonio Molina and William "Billie" Ert is full of firsts. It marked Texas' first gay marriage and the first recorded instance of a same-sex couple receiving a license to wed in the Lone Star State. It was also stained by finality, a quixotic love story that set back the Texas gay marriage movement 40 years while also helping to inspire a generation of civil rights advocates.
By 1970s standards, Molina and Ert's story went viral, making front-page headlines from El Paso to East Asia. "Two men seal vows with a kiss," the Denton Record-Chronicle reported on Oct. 6, 1972. The Straits Times of Singapore's headline read, "And then they were wed ... HE to HIM."
Molina's hometown newspaper, the Brownsville Herald, ran a photo of the beaming couple holding their marriage certificate, he in a suit and tie and Ert in a white beaded dress, elbow gloves and wig. That wig, it turns out, was what separated their success from the handful of gay couples who already had attempted to get married.
"We wouldn't have issued any license if we'd known he wasn't a female," Wharton County Clerk Delfin Marek said at the time. His deputy said Ert's "frosted shoulder length wig" fooled her.
Ert even had a voter registration card that listed him as "female." It was this document that months before provided the couple with their first inspiration for the scheme.
From different stock
Molina and Ert met in Chicago five years before, where the latter was plying his talents as a female impersonator, mostly singing and dancing, in the city's nightclubs. A native of somewhere in that amorphous region between Buffalo and Toronto, the former Ice Capades skater and hairdresser also had become a regular performer in the posh supper clubs of Toronto, Dallas and Houston, where he was billed as "Mr. Vicki Karr."
Molina came from altogether different stock. Born and raised in Brownsville, he lettered in high school football in 1957, and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy. At 6 feet and 235 pounds, he once worked for U.S. Steel and was a shipping clerk when he married Ert in 1972.
The couple had been together for a number of years when they exchanged rings in a small ceremony at Houston's Harmony Wedding Chapel, Rev. Richard Vincent, who officiated the ceremony, told The Advocate two days after their wedding.
"We marry souls, not bodies," said Vincent, an activist minister who helped found the gay-friendly Dallas Metropolitan Community Church. "They met the requirements as set forth by the church; they love each other, and they had a license, as I signed it. As far as I'm concerned, they are married in the eyes of God and in the eyes of Texas."
The timing of the marriage was perfect for homosexual activists.
The U.S. Supreme Court was poised to hear the case of another gay couple who sought and failed to receive a license in Minnesota, Jack Baker and James McConnell. While awaiting on the High Court to rule, Baker and McConnell quietly went to another Minnesota county, obtained a license and were married in 1971.
By the time Molina and Ert tied the knot, a handful of other same-sex couples from Washington State to Kentucky had tried unsuccessfully to follow in Baker and McConnell's footsteps. The nascent gay rights movement, born in the wake of a police raid on a Greenwich Village gay club known as the Stonewall Inn, seemed poised for a breakthrough.
The public and the courts, however, were not ready.
"When Antonio and Billie tried to marry, the medical profession considered homosexuality a mental illness. Most states, including Texas, criminalized it, and there were no legal protections for gays and lesbians anywhere," said Mark Phariss, who currently is challenging Texas' gay marriage ban with his partner, Victor Holmes.
Much of the general public's discomfort with the idea was directly attributable to the movement's early characters, said State University of New York-Buffalo Law Professor Michael Boucai.
"In the Texas case, you have a drag queen. That's not how gay marriage advocates like to represent their current constituency," said Boucai. In Kentucky, one half of a lesbian couple who sued for marriage operated a questionable massage service. Two men in Washington State did not actually believe in the institution of marriage, but still thought they should be able to partake. "They're just not convenient."
Hopes dashed
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The reaction against Molina and Ert's union was swift, and at times, dangerous.
Just days after the Supreme Court declined to hear the Minnesota case - effectively killing any hopes the nation's highest court would weigh in on same-sex marriage for the next 20 years - the Texas legal system came down on Molina and Ert.
Citing the justices' decision and a recent opinion from the Texas attorney general, Marek, the county clerk, refused to formally record the marriage certificate. Molina sued, arguing state law did not explicitly prohibit gay marriage because it said any two "persons" could enter into a union.
Attorney General Crawford Martin disagreed and issued a ruling that said marriage in Texas was intended for opposite-sex couples only because the law included such words as "husband" and "wife." Harris County District Attorney Carol Vance called Molina and Ert's marriage license "a worthless piece of paper."
The Houston Police Department's vice squad chief went a step further, threatening to press charges against the couple and their minister for performing the ceremony and obtaining a document by false pretense.
The threats and legal troubles went from bad to worse. Martin said Ert could be sent to jail for two to five years for signing his name on a document marked "woman's name." Soon after, a district judge threw out Molina's lawsuit.
Molina appealed the ruling and Ert went to the papers and local gay publications with their story. The two even appeared on CBS with Vikki Carr, the female singing star on whom Ert based his drag act.
The stress of the experience began to whittle away at their strength, however, and in May 1973 the couple's final appeal was thrown out because they filed it too late, a blow from which their legal battle would never recover.
Intended to expand the right to wed in the Lone Star State, their disputed union actually moved Texas in the opposite direction. State lawmakers considered the attempted marriage an embarrassment and a call to arms.
In 1973, they agreed to replace "persons" with "a man and a woman" in Texas marriage law. During committee discussion, they mocked the couple.
"I don't think that clerk ever suspected that football player wanted to marry one of his teammates," one senator is heard joking as the others laughed. The governor signed the bill into law in June one month after Molina and Ert's case was thrown out.
Audio clip: Senators discuss Molina and Ert's wedding in 1972.
The failure took a lasting toll. In October, a local newspaper reported Molina had left his lover of nearly six years. Soon after, Ert shot himself.
"I just shut my eyes and pulled the trigger," a friend said Ert told her. The suicide attempt was unsuccessful, however, and Ert continued to perform in Houston clubs as Mr. Vicki Carr for at least another two years, as evidenced by an October 1975 show announcement found by local LGBT historian J.D. Doyle.
Losing the trail
Here, however, their trail goes dark. Attempts to follow Ert's performing career or unearth an obituary failed. (See editor's note below.) Molina died in 1991, and is interred in the Houston National Cemetery. Reached for comment, his sister-in-law refused to broach the subject.
"He's gone and I just don't want to talk about him," Anna Vargas Molina told the Chronicle in late October.
"It is really hard for most of us now to realize how brave they really were, but they were undoubtedly brave," Phariss said.
Nicole Dimetman-DeLeon, who filed the current case challenging Texas' ban with her wife Cleopatra DeLeon, said it's hard to fathom the obstacles gay couples faced 40 years ago.
"I feel like we don't have as much to lose as many of these folks did back then," Dimetman-DeLeon said. "You have to put it in context. Cleo and I are free to be very normal."
Molina did not live to see the state further toughen the marriage restrictions he and Ert inspired. Six years after his death, state lawmakers followed the national trend and included a phrase in state law explicitly prohibiting marriage by same-sex partners. In 2005, voters enshrined the ban in the state Constitution.
Only now, as Texas finds itself as one of just 15 states with such a ban remaining, are gay rights advocates hoping for their first victory in 40 years. A federal appeals court in New Orleans will take up the issue on Jan. 9.
'Court of public opinion'
Evan Wolfson, the New York lawyer and activist known as the father of the modern gay rights movement, said Molina and Ert's story is a reminder it takes more than just legal precedent to win over hearts and minds.
"These early marriage cases really were reflective of the fact that gay people have always wanted it," said Wolfson, whose national Freedom to Marry group just launched a grass-roots effort in Texas. "But they also remind us it's not just about filing the case in court. You also have to make the case in the court of public opinion."
They may have been inconvenient, even radical, said University of California-Berkeley Professor of Law Melissa Murray. But early activists like Ert and Molina also were necessary.
"What these cases did was to bring gay couples, loving couples to the forefront, out of the closet and out of the shadows," Murray said. "I don't think you could have a contemporary marriage movement without them."
Of course, Ert and Molina had no way to know what, if any, effect their actions could have on future same-sex couples. In a letter to the gay publication DAVID 41 years ago, however, Ert echoed the hopes and arguments of today's same-sex marriage advocates.
"This is 1973 and not 1956," Ert wrote. "I see no reason why the gay community should have to hide behind closed doors to live and love who they wish, be them two females or two males. The U.S.A. is the Land of the Free, so they say, and tell us."
Editor's note: William "Billie" Ert died after a lengthy illness on Sept. 12, 1976. Ert had returned to Canada before his death and had been seeking treatment at the M.D. Anderson Cancer and Tumor Research Center, according a report in the Nov. 3, 1976, Advocate. The report mentioned Ert and Molina's marriage, but did not mention whether the couple retained ties before his death.
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Vanuatu is an archipelago of 83 islands lying between New Caledonia and Fiji in the South Pacific. Largest of the islands is Espiritu Santo (875 sq mi; 2,266 sq km); others are Efate, Malekula, Malo, Pentecost, and Tanna.
Serge Vohor was elected prime minister in the summer of 2004. His tenure was brief; he was ousted in a vote of no confidence by Parliament in November after a controversial attempt to establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan. He was succeeded by Ham Lini. In elections in September 2008, the Vanuaaku Pati, led by Edward Natapei, won the most seats in Parliament. Natapei formed a coalition government and became prime minister. In November 2009, the Speaker of the House stripped Natapei of his seat in Parliament and thus disqualified him to serve as prime minister after Natapei did not show up for three consecutive meetings of Parliament and failed to submit paperwork explaining his absences. However, Vanuatu's chief justice ruled that the move was unconstitutional, and Natapei then survived a no confidence vote and remained in office.
Natapei suffered another test of his leadership when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2010. Sato Kilman, the deputy prime minister, assumed the position. Natapei brought the case to the Supreme Court, which ruled on June 16, 2011, that the election of Sato Kilman was unconstitutional and installed Natapei as acting prime minister.
During Natapei's brief time as prime minister, he cancelled diplomatic recognition of Abkhazia, an order that Kilman had issued during his short period in charge. Then on June 26, 2011, Natapei's interim as prime minister ended. Parliament elected Sato Kilman as prime minister.
On March 21, 2013, Prime Minister Sato Kilman resigned. The previous day, Minister for Ni-Vanuatu Business Marcellino Pipite and Minister of Justice and Social Welfare Thomas Laken joined the Opposition in Parliament. Six government officials followed, leaving Kilman without the needed majority to continue to govern.
Kilman resigned before a no confidence motion was brought against him. He remained in charge of the interim government until his successor was named. On March 23, 2013, Moana Carcasses Kalosil became prime minister. A member of the Green Confederation party, Kalosil was the first naturalized citizen of Vanuatu to become prime minister.
Kalosil lost a no-confidence vote in Vanuatu's parliament by 35-11 votes in May 2014. That same month, Vanua'aku Pati party member Joe Natuman took over as prime minister.
In Sept. 2014, Anglican priest Baldwin Lonsdale was elected president by an electoral college made up of governors and members of parliament. The election was the longest in Vanuatu's history, lasting eight rounds before a candidate had a majority because of the conflict between Prime Minister Natuman's government and the opposition. During the lengthy election process, Philip Boedoro served as the interim president.
A category five cyclone hits Vanuatu directly on March 14, 2015. Named Tropical Cyclone Pam, the storm carried heavy rainfall and damaging winds as strong as 168 miles per hour. At least 3,300 people sought shelter in 37 evacuation centers.
The following day, an official at the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that Cyclone Pam would likely be the South Pacific's worst natural disaster. "At least nine nations have experienced some level of devastation including Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Fiji, Tuvalu, and Papua New Guinea. Officials have yet to assess the damage in many of the hard-hit outer islands because communications and power remain cut," the UN official said. As of March 17, the death toll from the cyclone was 11, according to the UN, but the number was expected to rise as the rescue effort continued.
In Feb. 2016, Charlot Salwai was elected prime minister. The head of the Reunification of Movements for Change party, Salwai has previously served as Vanuatu's Minister for Education, Minister for Finance, Minister for Trade, Minister for Lands, and Minister of Internal Affairs.
See also Encyclopedia: Vanuatu .


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Netflix Announces Production of First Egyptian Drama 'Paranormal'
Credit: Baaz
Netflix announced this week the upcoming production of an original Egyptian TV-series entitled Paranormal, based on the Arabic horror books of late Egyptian author Ahmed Khaled Tawfik.
"We are excited to continue our investment in Middle Eastern productions by adapting the highly acclaimed 'Paranormal' novels into a thrilling new series," Kelly Luegenbiehl, Netflix's VP of international originals, said in a statement.
To be directed by young Egyptian director Amr Salama, who is associated with a number of recent Egyptian films such as Oscar-entry Sheikh Jackson (2017), this marks the online entertainment giant's first attempt at producing Egyptian drama, a genre with a long and popular history on Arab television.
"I'm very excited about this project, it was my dream to adapt Paranormal of the late author Ahmed Khaled Tawfik and turn it into a drama, ever since I wanted to be a filmmaker. I'm proud to present the books in a new light while still keeping the essence of Paranormal," noted Salama.
The series will be collaboratively produced by Salama and fellow Egyptian indie producer Mohamed Hefzy, who was appointed president of the Cairo Film Festival in 2018.
Paranormal will be an adaptation of Ahmed Khaled Tawfik's bestselling 81-volume horror series, Ma Waraa Al Tabia, which have sold over 15 million copies, according to Netflix.
The plot is based in the 1960s and centers on the adventures of protagonist Dr. Refaat Ismail, "a hemotologist who finds himself faced with a series of supernatural events," reads the official Netflix website.
Tawfik, who passed away in early 2018, is considered a pioneer in contemporary Arabic science-fiction writing, and has penned more than 200 books. As such, this show is also a tribute to his success and literary contributions, while more generally promoting TV-adaptations of Arabic fiction.
Credit: The National
Following Netflix's recent expansion to include Arabic works, Paranormal will be the third scripted commission from the Arab region, following two other recently announced Arabic Netflix series: Jinn, which is set to be released on 13 June and Jordanian female-led Al Rawabi School for Girls, which was announced back in April. Scheduled to be filmed in Egypt, further details about the cast of Paranormal are soon to be shared.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Heads up skydivers! Please check out the following press release. If you have any information, contact the entities mentioned below and please do help spread the word.
David (Dave) Roy Brown was last seen at 2PM Wednesday June 29th in Moab, Utah. A missing persons report has been filed with the Moab Police Department. Dave can be described as a fun and energetic 37 year-old approximately 6'0 tall, 180 pounds with green eyes and dark brown hair. Dave has four tattoos: a black bat on his left shoulder, and a hummingbird, an alien head, and a moustache on his back.
Dave is a popular member of the skydiving community and well-loved by all who know him. Dave's friends and family are asking everyone to report any information related to the disappearance of our close friend, brother and son.
Dave was last seen in the vicinity of Skydive Moab, a common Utah destination for outdoor adventurists. Moab itself is a small community with a population of about 10,000 people. Those closest to Dave around the time he was last seen are confused as to why such a talented, well-liked extreme athlete would be missing. All of his personal credentials (driver's license, Canadian passport, US Green Card, credit card, etc.), clothing and belongings, and cash were left behind at his place of residence. Friends and family are very concerned and asking for everyone to be on the lookout.
A local police report has been filed, however, an incredible unofficial search and rescue effort is being launched. Although informal compared to State run operations, this rescue effort is being collaborated and largely driven initially by the incredible connectivity of Facebook. Dave's roots and family are based in Atlantic Canada yet his friends from all over the United States, as far as California and Hawaii, are communicating in an attempt to find Dave safely. Introductions are being made quickly and all involved are sharing information, resources and ideas on how to best proceed with search and rescue efforts. All informal search and rescue efforts are being coordinated with the Moab Police Department.
Time is of the essence and all help is appreciated. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Dave Brown, please contact the Moab Police Department (435-259-8938). To learn how to contribute to the Facebook-led efforts of coordinating search and rescue efforts on the ground in Moab contact Wendi TeKamp (Dave's Sister) at 902-444-5430 or mzwendi@gmail.com. All information is greatly appreciated from the friends and family of Dave!
We hope Dave returns home soon, safe and sound. Fingers crossed.
so proud of my kids ( Mark and Wendi ) for taking on the awesome responsibility of cheering on the team on this rescue effort !
my heart is breaking for Marian, Michael, Don and Wendi, having to go through this….
David, turn up safely, kiddo !
May God help you all find Dave safe. Erin my heart goes out to you, I'm sorry you and his friends and family are going thru this terrible uncertainty. I'm praying every day and wishing all your pain would go away.
Marion,Mike, Don and Wendy,our hearts go out to you.Hopefully thus will turn out right and David will be found safe and sound. We are on vacation and don't have your # with us.We'll keep you in our prayers. Molly/Kevin Barb and Deanne.
Marion Mike, Wendy,and Don. We are all devistated and hoping and praying that David will be found.We are all devistated by this when we read the paper the other day.We are in Alberta now on vacation.
Marian,Mike,Wendy and Don. We are all so devistated when Kevin read the paper the other day.We re on vacation in Alberta.You are certainally in our prayers that hopefully David will come home. Molly/Kevin Barb and Deanne.


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Ulica Ludwika Narbutta – ulica na warszawskim Mokotowie, biegnąca od ul. Puławskiej do św. Andrzeja Boboli. Upamiętnia polskiego ziemianina, Ludwika Narbutta.

1 lutego 1925 Polskie Towarzystwo Radiotechniczne uruchomiło przy ul. Narbutta 29 pierwszą w Polsce radiową stację nadawczą.

Ważniejsze obiekty
 Kamienica Mieczysława Broniewskiego
 Radio Kolor
 Kino Iluzjon
 LXVIII Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Tytusa Chałubińskiego.
 zabytkowe osiedle "Szare Domy"
 Kampus południowy Politechniki Warszawskiej
 Wydział Mechaniczny Technologiczny
 Wydział Mechatroniki
 Wydział Samochodów i Maszyn Roboczych
 Wydział Zarządzania

Przypisy

Stary Mokotów
Narbutta

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In addition to the countless hours of completely volunteer MEA team, MEA2 is made possible by the generosity of the organizations, businesses, and individuals who sponsor the event monetarily and through the donation of supplies.
Our sponsors don't just say they support our veterans, they demonstrate their support through actions.
Whether you live and work in Lawton, Oklahoma or on the other side of the country, you can help MEA positively influence the lives of hundreds of veterans as a sponsor by contacting the symposium Director, Jason Poudrier, at jpoudrie@cameron.edu.
There are two types of sponsors, Premier and Featured. Learn more about each below.
Premier sponsors are those organizations who donate more than $1000 and individuals who donate more than $500.
Organizational logo posted on all of our promotional fliers and shirts.
Prominent advertising space in our welcome packet.
Recognition during each featured event and corresponding workshops.
Cameron University, MEA2's host institution, allocated a number of resources to make our event possible. The symposium director is a Cameron faculty member, moderators at MEA2 workshops will be the same, facility costs were discounted if not free, different departments came together to help with the creation of items like the welcome packet and promotional posters, and at least one meal was sponsored by the university. Special thanks to our host institution for making MEA2 possible!
Cameron University's history is rooted in Oklahoma's statehood. In 1908, one year after Oklahoma became a state, the Oklahoma Legislature created six agricultural high schools in each judicial district. Cameron State School of Agriculture was named for the Rev. E. D. Cameron, a Baptist minister and Oklahoma's first State Superintendent of Schools. The first classes were held on Statehood Day, November 16, 1909, in the basement of a bank building while a new campus building was constructed.
Cameron added junior college work in 1927. With this changed function came a new name — Cameron State Agricultural College. In 1941, high school courses were dropped, and Cameron became solely a junior college.
In 1988, State Regents expanded Cameron's functions to include offerings at the master's degree level. This change in function was the first granted to an Oklahoma institution since Cameron was given the authority to offer bachelor's degrees more than 20 years earlier. In May 2004, the Duncan Higher Education Center in Duncan, Oklahoma, became an official branch campus and was renamed Cameron University – Duncan.
Today, Cameron is known as the "University of Choice" and serves students from around the world. Offering more than 50 degrees through two-year, four-year and graduate programs, Cameron is the only public university in Oklahoma that offers associate, bachelor's and master's degree programs at one site.
Cameron University is committed to providing its students a top quality education with caring and qualified faculty. Small class sizes provide an environment where learning and student success are the highest priority.
Cameron offers an honors program, early admission, advanced standing, a study abroad program, and college-level examination programs. Free tutoring is available in labs across campus to assist students in achieving academic success.
So confident in the quality education students receive, Cameron University has implemented "The Cameron University Guarantee." Cameron will provide additional education, at no expense to the graduate or employer, to Cameron baccalaureate graduates who enter the workforce and whose employers identify a deficiency in core employment areas in the graduate's major field of study.
"The Cameron University Guarantee" is believed to be the first program of its kind offered by a public university in Oklahoma and one of the first in the nation. For more information go to http://www.cameron.edu/guarantee.
Learn more about Cameron University here.
The Red Earth Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing at Oklahoma City University offers you the opportunity to escape your busy life to pursue your writing passion.
Learn more about Red Earth MFA here.
Select programming is made possible in part by a grant from the Oklahoma Arts Council.
Mission: To lead, cultivate and support a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans.
Award matching grants to arts and cultural organizations, schools, and local governments in order to increase resources available for producing community arts and arts education programs throughout Oklahoma.
Support opportunities for all Oklahomans to create, perform or attend arts activities.
Raise public awareness about the value of the arts to the economic, educational, and cultural life of Oklahoma. The arts produce jobs and attract out-of-state tourists, directly impacting Oklahoma's economy.
Foster education through the arts and support efforts to implement the arts as part of the core curriculum for all students in every Oklahoma school.
The Oklahoma Arts Council is the official state agency for the support and development of the arts. The Council's mission is to lead, cultivate and support a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans. The Council provides more than 500 grants to over 300 organizations in communities statewide each year, organizes professional development opportunities for the state's arts and cultural industry, and manages hundreds of works of art in the public spaces of the state Capitol. For more information, visit arts.ok.gov.
Cameron's SVA chapter is in its third year. This year, SVA is the primary partner of MEA2. In addition to making a substantial financial contribution, MEA's partnership with Cameron's SVA permits free use of university facilities. Further, SVA members are investing countless volunteer hours to ensure the event's success.
Bi-weekly meetings are held on Fridays at 3:00 PM in the Aggie Room, located on the second floor between the Shepler buildings at Cameron University. Come and join SVA and make a difference in a veteran's life.
Monthly meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30 PM at the American Legion, 605 SW 11th Street, Lawton, OK 73501.
Meetings are held the third Saturday of the month from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM at Bingo Country, 809 SE Interstate Drive, Lawton, OK 73501.
Learn more about Raytheon here.
The Big Pasture Cultural Arts Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to improving life through the cultivation of the visual and literary arts in the Texoma region of the Southern Plains.
Atlanta Bread Company will be providing Coffee every morning and Tea and Water for Lunch-After Dinner.
Learn more about Atlanta Bread Company here.
VFW Post 5263 will be providing a spaghetti dinner the first night of the event.
Monthly Meetings are held at their post located at 103 NE 20th St. Lawton, OK 73507 which is open daily from 11:30 AM – 12:00AM.


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PC Capital announces investment in Medios Cattri and the simultaneous acquisition of Lightbox OOH
PC Capital announced its most recent investment in the Mexican company Medios Cattri, S.A. de C.V. ("Cattri"), one of the leaders in digital advertising in Mexico, who in turn acquired a majority stake in AdSpace Networks, Inc. ("Lightbox"), the leading digital advertising company in shopping malls in the United States. The transaction was also financed with the support of Altum Capital, a private credit fund based in Mexico City.
The investment has consolidated two large companies in Digital Out of Home advertising in the United States and Mexico, creating a network of more than 5,700 screens in strategic locations in the two countries, and an advertising ecosystem with a monthly reach of more than 108 million people, while at the same time positioning Cattri to enter the US market through Lightbox's digital dominance in shopping malls across the United States.
Since the investment materialized, Cattri and Lightbox have achieved operational synergies and created new strategic alliances with renowned companies such as We Work, reaching an agreement on November 18 to exclusively commercialize more than 5,000 screens in the different We Work locations throughout the United States.
Te Creemos Holding reaches agreement to acquire Banco Forjadores
December 9,2020:
Te Creemos Holding and Banco Forjadores announced to have reached an agreement for the sale of the Bank. This announcement begins a process whose successful completion is subject to the approval of the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV), Banco the Mexico and the local regulator (COFECE).
Impact and Sustainability: The Best Return on Investment
November 3,2020:
Through PC Capital's portfolio companies, we have proved that outstanding results can be achieved through an investment approach oriented to financial results that also have social and environmental impact in between the scope. A clear example of this investment thesis has been our participation in Te Creemos, a Mexican company focused on the microcredit financial sector.
For further details, page 23 of the AMEXCAP paper.
The Landscape of Impact Investing in Latin America
In the two years since the publication of the previous edition, much has changed, both in impact investing globally and in private equity and venture capital in the Latin American region. Recent research suggests that the global market for impact investing has continued to expand and mature, with increases in the value of assets under management, the number of transactions, and the total amount invested each year.
October 13,2020:
Te Creemos Holding, controller of Te Creemos and CAME, announced the purchase of the portfolio of the multiple-purpose financial company (SOFOM) Finsol, specialized in granting group credit .
Te Creemos Holding acquired the loan portfolio and operational assets of Financiera Finsol
Financiera Finsol S.A. de C.V., SOFOM., E.N.R is a microfinance company with a loan portfolio of more than $ 587 million pesos and 123 branches in Mexico
Te Creemos Holding acquired the loan portfolio of SOLFI
SOLFI, S.A. de C.V. SOFOM ENR is a microfinance competitor with a loan portfolio of more than $ 98.5 million pesos with 24 branches in Mexico
Te Creemos – AMEXCAP Impact and Sustainability: The best return on investment
September 24,2020:Impact and sustainability.The best return on investment http://www.pc-capital.com/english/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Impacto-y-Sostenibilidad.-El-mejor-retorno-a-la-inversión.pdf
Private Funds as alternatives to current illiquidity
Julyi 30, 2020: As economic recovery remains stagnated and many businesses cannot find a way to resume operations, illiquidity has become a bigger issue. Pablo Coballasi and Pablo Cervantes, partners of PC Capital, shared their thoughts about alternatives that exist beyond commercial banking and debt financing, to consider private vehicles as an intelligent way of finding that "lack" of liquidity.
ttr: transactional impact monitor
July 29,2020: Transactional Impact Monitor combines local knowledge and market visibility from top dealmakers. It was developed to bring clarity to the transactional market by addressing extraordinary situations affecting the macroeconomic stability and M&A outlook with leading dealmakers in core regions covered by TTR.
PC Capital Announces the Initial Close of its PC Capital Development Fund II, L.P, Private Equity Fund
by José Luis Rosales | posted in: News | 0
September 21,2019: Following the success of its Mexico Development I fund, PC Capital, a Mexican private equity firm specializing in growth equity investments in Latin America, announced today the initial close of its private equity fund PC Capital Development Fund II, L.P.
TTR Entrevista: Pablo Coballasi de PC Capital
by Daniel Méndez | posted in: News, News | 0
Pablo Coballasi ha trabajado como inversionista de private equity, banquero de inversiones y consultor en Estados Unidos y América Latina. Cofundó y ayudó a construir PC Capital en México.
PC Capital Anuncia Inversión Adicional en Te Creemos Holding, SAPI de CV
PC Capital Management, SC realizó una inversión adicional en Te Creemos Holding SAPI de CV ("Te Creemos Holding")
Citibanamex Financiará a la Sofipo Came con 15 Millones de Dólares
by Daniel Méndez | posted in: News | 0
20 de diciembre de 2018 – Citibanamex informó que con el apoyo de Citi Inclusive Finance, celebró un acuerdo de financiamiento por dos años y 15 millones de dólares con la sociedad financiera popular (sofipo) Consejo de Asistencia al Microemprendedor (CAME).
PC Capital Announces the Divestment in Grupo Filoa
Mexico City, Mexico, June 19th, 2018 – PC Capital Management, a specialized Mexican growth equity impact investment firm, is glad to announce that on June 8th, 2018 we completed the divestment of Grupo Filoa S.A ("Grupo Filoa" or the "Company") achieving an IRR of 80% in two years.
PC Capital Completed an Investment in Distribuidora Rancho Los Molinos
PC Capital Management, a specialized Mexican growth equity impact investment firm, announced today that it has completed an investment in Distribuidora Rancho Los Molinos S.A. de C.V. ("Rancho Los Molinos" or the "Company")
PC Capital Awarded with "The Best for the World Fund"
University of California, Berkeley, October 8th, 2017 – Today, MEXICO DEVELOPMENT I, managed by PC CAPITAL Management a private equity fund, was named Best for the World Fund by B the Change Media, for setting the measurement bar in impact investing
Te Creemos Holding Announces Acquisition of FINCA Mexico
July 4, 2018 Private Equity Mexico, DF, November 15, 2016 – Te Creemos Holding, S.A.P.I. de C.V. ("Te Creemos"), a PC Capital portfolio company and the parent company of Te Creemos, S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Financiera Popular, has announced the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Financiera FINCA, S.A.P.I. de C.V., SOFOM, ENR ("FINCA Mexico"). PC Capital and its manager PC Capital Management worked alongside the founding shareholders of Te Creemos as well as Creation Investments, S.C. to lead a follow-on investment in Te Creemos Holding S.A.P.I. to finance the acquisition of FINCA Mexico, a microfinance institution with over 67 branches in 20 different states of Mexico and a loan portfolio of more than $680 million pesos. The acquisition will allow Te Creemos to grow over 50% in terms of revenues and loan portfolio and position itself as the second largest microfinance institution focused on working capital loans in the country, with over 240,000 clients nationwide. Te Creemos and its subsidiaries have been operating since 2005, providing comprehensive financial services to underserved communities in Mexico. In its 11 years of operation, the company has served over one million customers with savings, insurance, and credit products. With the acquisition of FINCA Mexico, Te Creemos now has a consolidated loan portfolio of approximately $2.0 billion pesos and its footprint reaches 23 states of Mexico with a total of 227 branches. "We are excited to have worked closely with the Te Creemos management team and shareholders to complete this landmark transaction", said Pablo Coballasi, Managing Director, of PC Capital. Jorge Kleinberg, CEO of Te Creemos, added, "We are pleased to announce the acquisition of FINCA Mexico, one of the pioneers of microfinance in Mexico. The transaction represents an opportunity to consolidate our leadership position in the Mexican market and realize substantial synergies in 2017 and beyond." About PC Capital PC Capital is a middle market growth equity investment firm based in Mexico City. The firm is actively investing its Mexico Development I fund, which has a special preference for investments in the sustainability, financial services and education industries. The firm is a member of AMEXCAP, Mexico's Mexican Private Equity Association and Endeavor's Global Investor Network.
Te Creemos, S.A. de C.V., S.F.P., Primera SOFIPO en bursatilizar cartera
July 4, 2018 Private Equity México, D.F., a 10 de junio de 2016.– Te Creemos, S.A. de C.V., S.F.P., realizó su primera bursatilización de cartera en la Bolsa Mexicana de Valores. Te Creemos opera desde 2005, proporcionando servicios financieros integrales en el sector popular, contribuyendo a la sustentabilidad de sus clientes y sus comunidades. En sus 10 años de operación ha atendido a un millón de clientes, con servicios de ahorro y crédito en 145 sucursales, en 17 estados de la República Mexicana. Cuenta con una cartera de mil millones de pesos y activos por 1,300 millones de pesos. El programa de bursatilización fue autorizado por la Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores por 2,000 millones de pesos, a un plazo de hasta 5 años al amparo del mismo. En esta primera emisión TECRE16 recabó 313 millones 772 mil pesos a un plazo de 3 años y medio, teniendo una gran aceptación en el mercado de deuda mexicano y habiendo obtenido una calificación HR AAA por HR Ratings. Jorge Kleinberg, Director General de Te Creemos mencionó: "Llevamos más de 10 años comprometidos con la atención a nuestros clientes, el resultado de hoy, es una muestra de nuestra consolidación. Continuaremos profundizando en el sector de ahorro y crédito popular, otorgando servicios financieros integrales a la población de la base de la pirámide." Reconoció que: "el apoyo de la Banca de Desarrollo ha sido fundamental para llegar a la BMV, instituciones como NAFIN, SHF, Bansefi, FND y Pronafim han demostrado su compromiso, al ser aliados estratégicos y permitirnos atender a más de 80,000 clientes con cuentas de ahorro y más de 100 mil en crédito. Estás alianzas seguirán siendo de gran importancia para Te Creemos". Por su parte, José Oriol Bosch, Director General de la BMV afirmo que "la emisión de Te Creemos es una muestra de que las empresas medianas encuentran en la Bolsa Mexicana de Valores las condiciones para financiarse y que con ello continuamos rompiendo los paradigmas de que la Bolsa es solamente para los grandes corporativos. Asimismo, hacemos un reconocimiento a Te Creemos por su primera bursatilización y reiteramos nuestro compromiso de ofrecer los mejores servicios para las empresas que buscan financiarse a través de la BMV" Acerca de Te Creemos Te Creemos, S.A. de C.V., S.F.P. es una SOFIPO mexicana, enfocada en proporcionar servicios financieros integrales al sector popular, está dedicada al otorgamiento de créditos grupales, individuales y para mejoramiento de vivienda. Es supervisada por la CNBV y la Federación Atlántico Pacífico de Entidades de Ahorro y Crédito Popular, es socio fundador de AMSOFIPO y socio de ProDesarrollo. Ha mantenido un crecimiento sostenido y prudente en colocación, presentando un crecimiento compuesto anual de 36% en originación de cartera a largo plazo. Desde 2007, Te Creemos, obtiene el Certificado de Transparencia elaborado por MixMarket, proveedor mundial de datos de microfinanzas en materia de desarrollo financiero y desempeño social. En el año 2015, Te Creemos inició un proceso de integración del Mercado de Microfinanzas en México, adquiriendo a … Continued
PC Capital Completed an Investment in Grupo Filoa
July 4, 2018 Private Equity Mexico City, June 7, 2016 – PC Capital announced that it completed an investment in Grupo Filoa S.A.P.I. ("Grupo Filoa" or the "Company") in exchange for 30.0% of the Company's shares. Grupo Filoa is a Mexican company that offers universities and corporations a range of catering services, from off-site preparation and delivery to an in-house, ten-brand food court solution. The Company operates 40 sites mainly in the metropolitan area in Mexico City and the State of Mexico. Grupo Filoa has three business lines: 1) Full-service food court solution with ten distinct brands modeled after popular North American fast food options 2) Contracted catering, which allows clients to choose from service options ranging from daily delivery to full-scale, in-house operations and customize meals 3) Two restaurants that bring in additional revenues and provide the kitchen space to prepare meals for delivery clients. "The Food Services Industry in Mexico is highly fragmented, for this reason, we believe that there is a great opportunity to consolidate market share with in the industry, by offering a superior standardized service to clients." Said Pablo Cervantes, Partner at PC Capital. "We are very excited with the investment of PC Capital in the Company, with their help we are sure that we will scale the Company to the next level and achieve our goals." Said Juan Jose Villareal Portilla, CEO of Grupo Filoa About PC Capital. PC Capital is a middle market growth equity investment firm based in Mexico City. The firm is actively investing its Mexico Development I fund, which has a special preference for investments in the sustainability, financial services and education industries. The firm is a member of AMEXCAP, Mexico's Mexican Private Equity Association and Endeavor's Global Investor Network.
PC Capital Announces Strategic Alliance in the Education Industry
July 4, 2018 Private Equity 15 de marzo de 2016 – Guadalajara, March, 2016 – PC Capital announced that it has formed a Strategic Alliance with UI Universidad Internacional de Estudios Superiores A.C. ("Universidad Internacional" or the "Company") to improve quality of its facilities and curriculum, strengthen its ties with the business community, and expand its network of campuses. Through a network of 8 campuses, Universidad Internacional is a Mexican Institution that provides traditional and technical undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, high school diplomas and other programs, for students in Guadalajara, Mexico in the C and D+ economic segments of the population. It's wide variety of programs range from nursing, to nutrition, to business administration, and psychology. "We believe that the strategic alliance with Universidad Internacional is another example of the development of education in Mexico and we will put all the resources at our disposal to increase the quality of the institution", said Javier Arrechea, Partner, of PC Capital. "For UI the alliance with MDI is an important opportunity to consolidate and expand our presence in the education market in Guadalajara, through quality academic programs for our target segment", said Victor Jurado, CEO of Universidad Internacional. About PC Capital PC Capital is a middle market growth equity investment firm based in Mexico City. The firm has a special preference for investments in the sustainability, financial services and education industries. The firm is a member of AMEXCAP, Mexico's Mexican Private Equity Association and Endeavor's Global Investor Network.
PC Capital Announces Investment in Cesar's Pizza
July 4, 2018 Private Equity Mexico City, January 7, 2016 – PC Capital announced today that it has completed an investment in Cesar's Pizza S.A. de C.V. ("Cesar Pizza" or the "Company") in exchange for 49.0% of the Company's shares. Cesar Pizza is a Mexican company involved in franchising the largest international carry-out pizza chain in the world, Little Caesars, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The Company has operations throughout the north-eastern part of the metropolitan area in Mexico City and the State of Mexico. Cesar's Pizza offers a wide variety of products, ranging from pizzas, chicken wings, cheese breads, sauces and dips with very affordable prices. The business focuses in offering quality products for the base of the pyramid. "We believe that there is an important demand for quality services in the C and D+ neighborhoods of Mexico City that currently is not being served, and by investing in Cesar's Pizza we can fulfill part of that demand. Additionally, we know of the impact that this investment will have on the communities where it operates, offering great food and a viable source of employment", said Gabriel Araujo, Partner, of PC Capital. "We are very excited with the investment of PC Capital in the Company, with their help we are sure that we will scale the Company to the next level and achieve our goals." said Adolfo Hegewisch, CEO of Cesar's Pizza. About PC Capital PC Capital is a middle market growth equity investment firm based in Mexico City. The firm is actively investing its Mexico Development I fund, which has a special preference for investments in the sustainability, financial services and education industries. The firm is a member of AMEXCAP, Mexico's Mexican Private Equity Association and Endeavor's Global Investor Network.
PC Capital Announces Investment in Te Creemos Holding
July 4, 2018 Private Equity Mexico City, December 23, 2015 – PC Capital announced today that it has completed an investment in Te Creemos Holding, S.A.P.I., the parent company of Te Creemos, S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Financiera Popular ("Te Creemos" or the "Company"). With over 1,600 employees and a loan portfolio exceeding $1 billion pesos, Te Creemos is one of Mexico's leading micro-finance institutions. The Company has over 120,000 active loans that benefit micro and small businesses focused on the C- and D segments of the population. Together with Creation Investments, a US based private equity manager, PC Capital's led a funding round to provide working capital and finance Te Creemos Holding's acquisition of Finclusión, a micro-finance institution with over 50 branches and an active loan portfolio in excess of $300 million pesos. The acquisition allowed the Company to grow over 40% in terms of revenues and loan portfolio and position itself as the third largest micro-finance institution focused on working capital or "productive" loans in the country. "We are very excited to have completed this transaction and to have had the chance to participate in an investment that will have such a positive impact in Mexico's rural communities and achieve both the financial and impact investment objectives of our firm", said Pablo Coballasi, Managing Director, of PC Capital. "We are pleased to welcome PC Capital and Creation Investments into our company's shareholder roster. The investment represents an opportunity to consolidate our leadership position in the Mexican market and realize substantial synergies in 2016 and beyond" said Jorge Kleinberg, CEO of Te Creemos. About PC Capital. PC Capital is a middle market growth equity investment firm based in Mexico City. The firm is actively investing its Mexico Development I fund, which has a special preference for investments in the sustainability, financial services and education industries. The firm is a member of AMEXCAP, Mexico's Mexican Private Equity Association and Endeavor's Global Investor Network.


text:
Le  district du Congrès de Floride est une circonscription électorale du Congrès américain et a été redessiné en 2012, à compter de janvier 2013, le long de la côte du golfe du centre de la Floride. Le district comprend Palm Harbor, New Port Richey, Dade City et Zephyrhills. Il couvre le Comté de Pasco et certaines parties du nord du Comté de Pinellas et du Comté de Hillsborough.

Le district est actuellement représenté par le Républicain Gus Bilirakis.

Historique de vote

Liste des Représentants du district

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022
La Primaire Démocrate a été annulée, Kimberly Walker est donc qualifiée pour l'Élection Générale du 8 novembre 2022.

Références

 Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York : Macmillan Publishing Company.
 Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company
 Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

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text:
Recasting identities
Copyright © 2001 Anil Prasad. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution, No Derivatives license.
Composer and guitarist David Torn has long been known for defying categorization. Throughout a career stretching nearly 30 years, strict devotion to his muse has ensured singularly unique and diverse output. Whether it's edgy, world rhythm-infused jazz-rock, minimalist ambient explorations or cutting-edge electronica—all drenched with an innovative looping approach—Torn's work has quietly played a major role in shaping modern audio aesthetics.
It's the electronica realm that Torn explores and expands on in his latest CD OAH, released under the moniker SPLaTTeRCeLL. He assumed the alias in an attempt to distance himself from any preconceptions attached to a release under his own name. Though he's successfully established himself as a potent, inventive force, Torn remains lumbered by the industry notion that he's predominantly a jazz artist.
The fact is Torn emerged as a public entity via jazz-inflected work with Don Cherry, the Everyman Band and solo releases on the ECM and CMP labels. But while SPLaTTeRCeLL has some roots in the jazz realm by virtue of Torn's evolution—not to mention via contributions from drummers Zach Alford, Matt Chamberlain and Dean Sharp, and bassists Fima Ephrom and Abraham Laboriel—it's much more steeped in recombinant urban experimentation along the lines of Squarepusher, DJ Spooky and Autechre. But OAH differs significantly from those acts with its organic grooves and a human touch that overcome any sterility associated with the scene.
"Most of the material on the record is built out of things that were originally improvised by me alone or by me with other people," explained Torn. "For instance, 'Chrysanthemum Bang' started with me, Zach and Fima playing live. But I fucked around with it. I went through the tapes, found stuff I liked and built a piece out of it. The root source of the material is the interaction with other players."
In addition to critical acclaim, SPLaTTeRCeLL has captured the attention of some high caliber peers. Many contributed to Remiksis:::AH, an EP featuring OAH interpretations by the likes Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nine Inch Nails' Charlie Clouser, Yoshihiro Hanno and Dan "The Automator" Nakamura. It also includes a track titled "Romance Refined" featuring No-Man's Tim Bowness on lead vocals.
SPLaTTeRCeLL's bent was likely informed by Torn's varied and voluminous work in the film soundtrack world over the last 20 years. Recent films graced by his textures, looping and guitar work include Traffic, The Chamber, The General's Daughter, Three Kings and Reversal of Fortune. Many directors and composers regularly seek out Torn's one-of-a-kind approach to atmospheres. And those who don't are known to routinely plunder his sample discs Tonal Textures, Pandora's Toolbox and Loops for Acid. The discs' content is used worldwide as the basis for a great deal of high profile television, film and commercial house work.
Torn discussed the inspiration and evolution of SPLaTTeRCeLL with Innerviews, as well as the emerging directions of his soundtrack career. Recent collaborations with Laurie Anderson, Will Calhoun, Robert Creeley, Donna Lewis, Me'Shell NdegéOcello and Douglas September also serve as conversation fodder.
Tell me where the name SPLaTTeRCeLL came from.
It makes sense in a fairly personal way. I've come to think of these little audio bits as cells that I'm splattering like paint across the landscape of my digital audio workstation. It's like I'm randomly throwing globs of paint at things.
When did you first think about using an alias to release music?
The first time I thought about it was back in the CMP days during the early '90s. I wanted to make a series of records for CMP that freed me from any kind of vision anyone might have of me. At the time, I had this character called Bob. Bob was going to put out a series of records. [laughs] The idea was that with Bob, I could do whatever I wanted to do. So, it's not a fresh thought for me. It's an outgrowth of something that started awhile ago. Once the new record neared completion, I thought "now is the time to change." I was encouraged by friends and my kids. Why not have an A.K.A.? Other people do it all the time. How successful it is in terms of identification with David Torn fans, anti-fans or the business remains to be seen.
Looking at the bigger picture, there's no defining point in the renaming of the self. This is just part of what I hope is an evolutionary flow of writing and producing music. Perhaps the only defining point is when I built my studio in '93—when I was first capable of having a sequencer on a computer that would sequence audio, rather than MIDI information. Tripping Over God [1995] is part of any defining point, as is when I started working with cells, loops, textures and repeating motifs. I first started working with looping devices back in 1976. So, somewhere along the line I morphed into a dude named SPLaTTeRCeLL . [laughs]
I assume the renaming was also designed to allow you to escape the "David Torn: guitar player" pigeonhole.
I don't want to be the same as I was two years ago. I want to be considered a conceiver of music and not merely a guitar player—which I pretty much never really was and don't think I was that good at to begin with. I certainly do not in any way want to use guitar to play really hot solos in order for people to enjoy the music. That's certainly the most minimal part of how I think about my music. The guitar is an integral part of it, but I think of myself as a composer. That may be high-minded and wrong, but that's how I consider myself. Hence, SPLaTTeRCeLL .
The old school guys that want a hot guitar solo can buy the new Jeff Beck record. There are other hot guitar records coming out from [John] Scofield and [Bill] Frisell too. Those records might be interesting to them. Even though these guys talk about me like I'm a really good guitar player, I don't think it's my strength. My strength is recasting the guitar. So, why can't I have a public personality to recast myself into as well? One of the great reasons for not putting this record out as David Torn was because it might have gone into the jazz or new age bins where my name has J-cards. My records would get returned because there is no jazz listener scouring the jazz bins looking to pick up SPLaTTeRCeLL . Ken Burns' jazz? Wynton Marsalis' jazz? What is SPLaTTeRCeLL then? Maybe SPLaTTeRCeLL will work for the more adventurous people into Matt Garrison, Nils Petter Molvær and Don Byron. But SPLaTTeRCeLL is a pretty fucking long stretch into the jazz scene. There may be some influences there harmonically, sensibility-wise or form-wise. But if the SPLaTTeRCeLL record were to end up in the David Torn bin means I might as well not even bother putting it out.
Was there any trepidation about how your earlier fusion-oriented crowd might perceive the record?
If there was, it was really, really brief. I admit to being extremely irritated when people ask me to explain to them what I've done. I guess I've come to look at this as an extremely narrow-minded audience—the one that demands an explanation for why such a thing would occur, or even worse, one that wants to corner the music into an extremely polarized idea of selling out. That's one of the most ridiculous things I've heard. I characterize these folks as kind of being unable to move along. I'm fine with talking to people about music, but having to explain myself to somebody actually saying "I liked Door X [1990] better" or "I loved the tone of your guitar when you used the Pierce amp, why did you change?" is irritating. Hey dude, why did your wife leave you? [laughs] Don't ask me these things. It's phenomenally short-sighted.
It took awhile for SPLaTTeRCeLL to get released after completion.
It came out 18 months after it was done. I feel well beyond it. It was a very good reason to put a remix of my own on the remix disc. It was more up to date. The piece with Tim Bowness is closer to where I'm at currently. The business of trying to get SPLaTTeRCeLL out has been a little frustrating—no more so than for any independent artist though. The good news is, regardless of what goes right or wrong with this record company [75 Ark], I'm not tied to them for any particular time. I own SPLaTTeRCeLL, including the masters of the record and remixes. It's not in anyone else's court but mine. I don't feel boxed into a corner with a five record deal wondering if they're gonna let me do my next record or if they're gonna promote it. It's a distribution deal, not a record deal. It they don't, well fuck 'em, I'm just going to move on.
Describe the process of trying to get this music out there.
I went to every label I thought reasonable—most of the electronica ones. I still hold a grudge against some of them because of some really odd reactions. But I tried to take these things with a grain of salt and not burn any bridges. I think it could have been very well marketed by some of them. There was a long series of disappointments and then I ran into two or three labels that said they'd do it and put it out. I chose 75 Ark because it had the best looking marketing plan, which of course was never followed through on. [laughs] It was 75 Ark that suggested we do a remix record, which I really thought was a great idea both creatively and marketing-wise. It let me get my material updated in the hands of some very creative friends and people I hadn't met before like Charlie [Clouser] and Dan ["The Automator" Nakamura].
Getting the record out was a struggle. I felt like I was being treated like a kid who had never put out a record before. Granted, some of my records have not sold very well for very different reasons. But there is a fan base and I felt strongly that someone should be able to capitalize on that and take it a bit further—especially with this music which has deeper connections to electronica and progressive hip-hop. It was a struggle I was not prepared for. I thought it was going to be a lot easier. But hey dude, I'm 47 years-old, although I'd suspect that I'm pretty aware of what's happening adventurously on a musical level. However, on a daily or weekly basis, I'm not some kid playing raves, doing big parties or working with Madonna.
Did you perceive an ageist mentality working against you?
I suspect there's an element of that. But I think it's probably got more to do with the fact that the music I make sounds different from other kinds of music. One record company offered a response as rhetorical questions that went "Well, what do you expect if you're going to make music that doesn't sound like anything else? How do you expect us to release and market it?" If I was making noise at raves and in the dance world, it might have been a bit easier. I think in that world, the fact that I'm a guitar player weighs against me too.
Do you feel you exist outside of the music industry these days?
As much as any other artist who is independent I'd say. Musically, I am definitely doing what I want to do. In that way, I'm on the boundaries. It's not that I think the music is avant-garde. I don't. I don't think it's particularly experimental either. Maybe I have an inside view, but I think it's pretty fucking catchy. But I thought that about Cloud About Mercury [1986] and What Means Solid, Traveler? [1996] too.
Page Hamilton from Helmet is one of my biggest supporters. He went absolutely nuts over this record. And he's a very critical listener. He's not afraid to tell you what he thinks is wrong. He said "Dude, this is your most well-formed work yet. You're figuring out a way to structure yourself into an almost song form. It feels like tunes even though they may not be particularly linear." So, that's the take of a critical friend I respect. I think I'm working on the outside edges, but I don't think it's that out there—especially when I listen to stuff like Squarepusher, Boards of Canada, Amon Tobin or the bulk of DJ Spooky's output.
Yes, SPLaTTeRCeLL is idiosyncratic—I would hope it is. People like Page, [David] Bowie, Carter [Burwell] and others in the film industry have been unbelievably supportive of whatever I'm doing. The other thing that kept me going through this period of struggle was this crowd of kids in New York that I have a lot of respect for. My oldest son has a really huge crew of very culturally active kids. They were so phenomenally supportive. When you get to be my age, you can easily determine if someone is kissing ass or has an agenda. This Brooklyn and downtown New York City crowd of 19-to-23 year-olds helped me not give up. At Virgin and Tower in New York City, they had to restock the record every two-or-three days for the first few weeks after release and that was partially because of this gang. My son loves me and has a lot of respect for me, but his friends didn't need to do that. They don't owe me. It was genuine and really kept me feeling that if these kids dig this stuff like they're putting across, there's a reason to keep going regardless of what the labels say. It sounds like strange motivation, but when you're me, you look for support where you can get it.
Describe the overall approach you took to putting the new record together.
Most of the material on the record is built out of things that were originally improvised by me alone or by me with other people. For instance, "Chrysanthemum Bang" started with me, Zach [Alford] and Fima [Ephron] playing live. But I fucked around with it. I went through the tapes, found stuff I liked and built a piece out of it. The root source of the material is the interaction with other players. In a very worst case scenario, the material is turned into cells that I build my bits out of. This is particularly the case for stuff that was once guitars. The energy of self-referencing creativity is the first impulse of SPLaTTeRCeLL . It's this thing we started loosely calling "Organica" a while ago—the idea of using sources that are played by a bunch of cool musicians jamming in a room, of whom I may be the least cool. [laughs] But I'm one of those guys and there is something valuable to say.
As a composer, I'm a guy with a digital audio workstation. I'm going to use those tools to rethink what was played. I'm not fixing what was played, but I'm taking the best of it that appeals to me in the same way that a guy writing a hip-hop tune bases things on samples of other people. But I'm going back through my library, taking samples of myself playing with other people like Matt Chamberlain, Dean Sharp, Zach, Fima or Will Calhoun. Another example is the Plane stuff [improv trio featuring Me'Shell NdegéOcello, Calhoun and Torn]. Maybe the Plane record will be a document of a live recording or maybe I'll fuck around with it. There's still some really strong force that wants to take the initial improvisatory impulse and use it as somebody who's writing with it after the fact. That initiative hasn't stopped. It started a long time ago. Its first birth was Tripping Over God. Now, it's about tripping into the future. I'm continuing with this on new material, though I'm also using sounds that are purely created on the computer as the root source of things.
Tell me about the new SPLaTTeRCeLL material in the works.
I now have several pieces ready to complete for the next SPLaTTeRCeLL release. Some of the newer material is much more rhythmic than the first SPLaTTeRCeLL disc. The rhythms and the sounds of the rhythms are much more unusual this time around. I don't know how to describe them except to say that I've been building a lot of drum-type sounds out of found materials and synthesizing them very purely on the computer. I'm taking drum sounds and building new sounds from them that are very unlike drums. Over the course of the last couple of years, I've found myself listening to more and more electronic music. I can't deny that it has an influence on me. I also now have a huge penchant for sampling the great jazz drummers and finding little riffs and bits that I can really twist. It lets me have the feeling of those guys that changed popular music in the last century.
Your work has been very influential in the film and television soundtrack realms, yet you've received very little public acknowledgement for it. What are your thoughts on that situation?
I think it's because most of the good work I do in the film world goes historically uncredited. It's only recently that I'm even getting credit. I get hired for a lot of film scores, but what I get hired for is not usually to play something somebody else wrote for me. For instance, with Carter Burwell, sometimes he'll write 50 percent of what he expects me to play and then the other 50 percent is completely creative on my part. In the case of Blair Witch 2, there was little-to-nothing written for me. I was asked to create sounds, textures and provide a creative impulse for his score. I've done that stuff for a lot of films. Somehow, the film Traffic has turned things around for me. Suddenly, people are calling and saying "I recognize that a good portion of Traffic is based on you. Did you do that score or were you sampled?" I would never disrespect Cliff Martinez for that score, but there's an awful lot of me in it. Same with Blair Witch 2—a movie none of us will see. [laughs] But Traffic is something most of us will see. It's got a lot of notice both publicly and in Hollywood. People kinda finally went "I recognize that sound—that's Torn." Although it says music composed by Cliff Martinez, at the end of the credits you'll see "SPLaTTeRCeLL /dt: textures and guitars."
I kind of occupy a really unusual position in the world of film music in that I'm asked to come in and be me for somebody else's score. There are some arguments that say "Well, you're actually writing part of the score." And well, indeed, I am writing my parts quite often—maybe during a larger percent of the time. I'm making up all these textures and also playing a few written things here and there. It's kind of a tough one, but I'm finally getting credit. The fact is I'm on many more television shows, films and advertisements than I actually am paid on because of the amount of sampling of my work that's being done here in America, as well as England and Japan. It's nothing short of phenomenal. The first two sample discs have sold very well [Tonal Textures and Pandora's Toolbox]. They're really in a lot of composer's sample toolkits. The discs are very good at helping out with visuals. It's a strange world that I live in because I get an immense amount of respect in some quarters, but the old guitar player fans don't know shit about this stuff. They don't know it's me they're hearing in some film or on TV. Sussan Deyhim recently said she thinks I'm the most sampled living musician on the planet outside of James Brown. [laughs]
Why haven't you helmed a feature film soundtrack of your own yet?
I'm working on it. I've been recommended for quite a few good ones by Carter [Burwell]. None of them happened for political reasons, but I'm convinced it will occur. Hollywood is a strange place. It has a catch-22 built into it which is "So, you want to score this film?" I'd say "Yes, I do." The response is "Let me see something you've scored." Next up, I say "Well, I haven't scored a big film." Their reaction is "When you do, send it to me and I'll consider you for one of my films." It doesn't seem to matter to a lot of directors that I've done all the textures for movies like Three Kings, Velvet Goldmine, The Chamber, Reversal of Fortune, Traffic, Blair Witch 2, General's Daughter and a bunch of others that have been critically or commercially successful—or both.
An agent would say my textures and guitar are part of the creative process—not just serving as a session musician. But the directors say "Oh, he's a guitar player. We don't need any guitar on this score" or "He sounds avant-garde." [laughs] Those are the predictable impediments. I think they will evaporate because I do believe I have something very valuable to offer to some director of some cool film as the principal composer, rather than having someone say "Let's hire Torn, he'll help."
It's funny. I know quite a few Hollywood composers including Hans Zimmer, Carter, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Howard Shore. None of these people actually tried to become a composer in Hollywood. They all met someone who was a fan of theirs and just became composers for film. I'm also quite fortunate in that I've worked with some of the greatest film composers now working. It's really great working with Carter. He can look at a good picture and really understand what it needs. When it's a good movie, he's the man.
The early '90s saw you overcome a life-threatening brain tumor that left you deaf in one ear. How does that affect your ability to work with surround sound?
I know sound is coming from all over the place, but I can't tell you why. [laughs] Carter and I once played in New York City in surround sound in which we had control over our individual sounds in the surround soundscape. It was really great. I really enjoyed it. It was a fantastic gig and I can tell it sounds cool and bigger. The fact is unless you're in a restaurant with me, nobody notices. I still envision a stereo soundfield in my head because I had a lot of experience producing records. I still see a soundspace in my head and still create according to that soundspace. Even if I'm just playing guitar and loops live, I still have a sense of what's going to work in a field of sound. So, that would never go against me in Hollywood. And that processing is held for the mixdown stage anyway. I can verify that I have something creative to say about how to use the soundfield. For instance, in The Corrupter, I was separated from the rest of the score. The electronic stuff was put in full surround and the rest of the stuff was inside.
How is your health these days?
In general, I'm doing really, really well. I actually can't tell you when the last, full-blown seizure even occurred. I've passed every MRI since the operation with flying colors.
You once told me the ordeal made you live your life on a day-by-day basis. Is that still the case?
I think I still do. The further and further away you get from a morbid experience, the more you lose some of that edge. [laughs] You start to become a little more comfortable in the illusion of your immortality. I'm sure I've got some of that. That period of life woke up a lot of new and old things in me. It definitely changed my perspective, but I've learned to attempt to stay out there in the best possible way—not in a morbid or fatalist way. I try to maintain that attitude, but it's a little rough sometimes when you get caught up in "Oh my God, I don't have a gig this week, but I have eight next week and nothing next month." I also have a fairly complex personal life which involves having been an immature provider for many years—in other words, a musician. [laughs]
Suddenly, you realize your kids are old enough to go to college and they want to go. For a musician, it's a fairly complex thing to come up with money for two kids in college in America. It's really tough being a professional musician in this country. It's very difficult to keep up with the Joneses. It's also difficult to keep up with the inequities in politics and civil rights. The thing that kept us going here [in Woodstock, NY] is that we wanted to give our kids a stable base to grow from. So, we never moved. We've had many opportunities to move to different countries which were very seriously considered. My youngest son is going to college soon and the picture is gonna open up again. We'll see what happens over the next couple of years.
You recently completed a new album for Douglas September featuring Robby Aceto. What drew you to his work?
He's very true—unusually true. It's hard to describe. Douglas just puts it out there. He has a lot of people comparing him to Bob Dylan, Tom Waits or Captain Beefheart, but he's just a naturally expressive, very, very funky dude. We've made a really cool record based on the live playing of Douglas and Robby. We threaded a studio document that was true to what they were performing live with some newer swampy stuff that I think is the single most true representation I've ever heard of him.
You're part of Robert Creeley's backing ensemble on his new CD Have We Told You All You'd Thought To Know? What can you tell me about that experience?
I loved the gig that record came from. What a genius. It was really fun playing with someone like Robert. He's an unbelievably erudite, poetic gentleman. I spent two days with him and we pulled it off. [Steve] Swallow was the glue, musically. It was great playing with Robert and responding to these pieces in real-time. I didn't know any of them. It was entirely improvised. Robert didn't know which piece was going to go where. It was that edgy fun in which you don't know what's going to happen. Everyone got along and respected each other. I enjoyed the process. Robert's one of the last beat poets. It was unusually enlightening—not just the work itself, but being around someone who helped birth a literary movement in America that's going to be of some long lasting value. It was pretty special.
You're involved with two all-improv groups: Plane featuring Will Calhoun and Me'Shell NdegéOcello, and LoVEBuBBLE, a duo with Calhoun. Are there any plans for CD releases?
There were some absolutely incredible moments during the four Plane shows. I need to go through the tapes and determine what Will, Me'Shell and I could put out in some way or another. I have gone through the LoVEBuBBLE stuff and have put together a CD consisting mostly of one live gig and a piece or two from another live gig. It's a nice 60 minute disc that Will really wants to put out somehow—maybe by ourselves. I feel really good about that representation of what Will and I did in the context of a live gig. It sounds like a whole bunch of people playing onstage, but it's just the two of us. There's a very, very unique chemistry. I love going into New York City and having gigs that are just improvised—no tunes, no expectations. Most of the time, there's not very much advertising for the gig. You just go and play and get with some very like-minded musicians and trust the moment. Some unusually great things happen in those moments.
You're also working with Donna Lewis on some new vocal material. Tell me about that collaboration.
It's been going on for quite awhile now. I'm basically writing the material and Donna is choosing which of it she wants to sing to. She's also helping me organize and arrange that material, as well as writing melodies over it. The people I've played a really rough vocal track for are very excited by it. There's some kind of feeling that's similar to Lamb, but only more electronic. It's like a rougher and industrial Portishead, but with a girl who can really sing. It's not that I dislike Portishead, but Donna's a really accomplished singer. She's pretty big on the European dance scene, has done some duets with Van Morrison and a lot of music for films. It's really effective stuff. I'm very excited by it. I don't know what's gonna happen with it. It may come out under Donna's name or it may have a project name. My playing, programming, arranging and writing skills are pretty dirty-sounding. I'm into the dirt. [laughs] I like the funky sounds. Sonically, it's very adventurous I would say. I feel incredibly positive about it. I didn't think anyone would view these things as pop songs, but she walked in and said "That sounds good! I can write a melody for that. You're writing pop songs now." I'd say "No I'm not! I'm writing my shit but organizing it in verse-chorus-verse format sometimes." [laughs] Sometimes it's just an endless flow of energy like some of the SPLaTTeRCeLL stuff. I'm pretty gassed by it.
What's your take on Ken Burns' Jazz?
Ken Burns and his pseudo-documentary? [laughs] I think if his thing had been presented not as historical document—which is clearly isn't—but the filmmaker's limited view of jazz, then I think it would have been fine. I'm of two minds about it because it had a positive aspect, but what was actually presented was extremely negative. I thought it was positive in presenting jazz as an American art form to the American public—and indeed, as a truly valuable one. It also succeeded in depicting it as being rooted as an African-American art form. On the other hand, it was so incredibly myopic, narrow in scope and non-inclusive of musicians who developed jazz and grew it into something deeper than people like Branford and Wynton Marsalis, and Stanley Crouch would necessarily present. It was an incredible disservice.
The ignorance of the role of the drummer in jazz was particularly vexing. Then there's the exclusion of the importance of people like Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans and everything that Miles spawned. Not only the entirety of the best and brightest of that early period of fusion, but everything that came out of via ECM in Europe—which I see as an outgrowth of Miles, Coltrane and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It pissed me off deeply. It put the hurt on me. How about Cecil Taylor, who I know? The rudeness and disrespect Branford Marsalis treated Cecil with was phenomenally imbued with this horrible, nearly academic rubbish. I found a lot of it personally insulting. Then there's the exclusion of many of my friends who I believe are the current shapers of what I guess is still considered jazz music.
I know in 10 episodes you couldn't possibly cover such a broad spectrum. But I do believe more could have been done to make it more inclusive. It should have communicated the essence of what jazz is about instead of just focusing on cultural icons and lionizing certain elements of the jazz community. It could have depicted jazz as an art form that is very much the fuck alive in everything from hip-hop to Tortoise to the improvising electronic bands out there. These things are really studious oversights somebody must have decided on at some point.
Don Cherry, who you worked with in the late '70s, is another important figure who barely got a mention.
Yeah, that was frighteningly brief for the guy who basically spawned the focus on world music and the interaction of indigenous musics with an American jazz improvisatory point of view. Who brought ethnic music into a jazz environment as much as Don did? Look at his association with Nana Vasconcelos to Collin Walcott to playing with John Lee Hooker in Paris to using Trilok Gurtu on tabla, who was in the band for a week, subbing for our drummer when we were in France in 1979. So, I clearly see Don as a progenitor of a very broad-based movement that is clearly an outgrowth of jazz.
Describe your relationship with Cherry during those years.
Don and I were friends. He was my first real professional mentor. He was the first musician I played with on an international stage who said "Oh yeah, you should obviously be doing this." [laughs] I really looked up to him a lot, both musically and personally. We roomed together for three or four weeks in a row. It was unbelievable to have this musical guide teaching me the Ornette book in a hotel room. At the same time, he said I shouldn't think of myself as a guitar player, but rather go with any sound I heard in my head at any moment. He constantly battered that into my head. For instance, he once said "Sounds like you're trying to sound like a sitar here. Follow that and go that way."
Did you record with Cherry?
Yeah. We made one studio record that was never released by Atlantic. We also made a live record at the Batalcan in Paris over two-to-four nights in 1979 or 1980 that wasn't released either.
There's a commonly held misconception that you worked with Lou Reed. From where did that idea emerge?
It's because the Everyman Band without me was Lou's band. And somebody at the press office at ECM misunderstood and whenever they talked about the Everyman Band, they always talked about me as being part of its history. It's kind of funny. I went to one of Laurie Anderson's parties—she and Lou have been together for years. I was hoping to bump into him and say "Funny thing Lou… check this out!" But he wasn't there. [laughs]
You're on Anderson's new album Life on a String. What was it like working with her?
It's daunting to work with someone who's so heroic. We were working to pretty blank slates. She didn't have much on tape. There were some click tracks and little bits of synthetic textures. It was very enjoyable. I have a deep, abiding respect for her. She's really an incredible artist and fun. She's a gem.
A live CD from the Zobo Funn Band—your first professional gig—is in the works. How do you feel about that?
It's very touching, but in an aesthetic kind of way it doesn't have that much meaning for me. It's not that I'm disloyal to my past, but I've done a lot of work since 1973. I don't see it as anything other than a bow to the past. It's something I did with a lot of commitment when I was a kid. That was 30 years ago. It can't be anything but nostalgia. It was a really good band for it's time. It was really the first time I was in an organized unit that said "Let's just do whatever we want. Let's bring every influence to bear on this." And we did. Some of it was really great. Other things were really terrible—certain lyric and singing things make me cringe when I hear them. Some other things I find really incredibly moving.
I went through some of this material when Jeremy Werbin passed away two years ago. He bequeathed me and Robby [Aceto] his library of tapes. Jeremy had advanced juvenile diabetes and was in a declining state for 10 years. The last three years were really rough. He passed away very young. He was the lead singer, main lyricist and songwriter. I sent David Arnay [pianist] a lot of the tapes that I had.
How do you look back on the original Zobo LP?
Making that record was a mistake. My dad put up the money for that, God bless him. My dad, much to his credit, said "An awful lot of people go see these kids play. Sure, I'll organize the money to get these kids in the studio." But not being familiar with the music business, my father got involved with a guy who was a real jerk in the music business who became his partner in that venture. They decided to bring in a producer who was just an idiot and did whatever he could to destroy what was good about the band. That's why I never sent that vinyl to anybody. I'd say to most people that want to hear what the Zobo Band was about to listen to the horrible live tapes out there. At least in that environment, you get to hear the band making all these amazing mistakes, taking all these bad chances and playing too many notes. [laughs] You can sort of sense the 500-600 people in the room acting much like the kids at a Phish concert today. You would never guess that from the over-slickified vinyl event.


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Q: How to remove OS X 10.6 Server on Mac Mini and install OS X 10.6 I tried to boot up from OS X install CD or boot up OS X server then run OS X install CD to restart. Both got you need to restart your computer hold down the power button for several seconds or press the restart button error message. Can anyone show me some instructions or tutorials on how to do this? Thanks.

A: Do you have one of the aluminum Mac minis? I believe they first shipped with a version of Mac OS X that was basically 10.6.3 plus some model-specific changes, so it has drivers and bug fixes that weren't in the 10.6.3 version that hit the retail 10.6 DVD kits last spring. And it darn sure won't work with earlier revisions of the 10.6 install DVD kits, such as the original ones that contain 10.6.0. I believe aluminum Mac minis later started shipping with 10.6.4++ from the factory.
It doesn't look like Apple's going to rev their retail 10.6 DVD kits for 10.6.4 or they would have done it by now (I believe 10.6.3 is still what's in the 10.6 install DVD kits on the shelves), and it's hard to predict if they'll do that for a future 10.6.x update either, so waiting for a retail DVD kit update is probably not an option for you.
If you have a non-server config of the aluminum Mac mini around, you could use the install DVD that came with it.
One more thing that's worth a shot is to boot from the Mac OS X Server install DVD that came with your Mac mini, and when you get the chance to customize the install, see if you can un-check the Server package. Mac OS X Server is basically Mac OS X [client] plus some server binaries and some additional GUI tools to configure them.

A: I have read all the blogs looking for how to do this.
So far I have found two methods (described below) but I did it in a third way:

*

*Get yourself an install DVD (grey one) for the Mid 2010 Mac Mini (Client version). This one works flawlessly as it contains whatever hardware specific files the 2010 Mac Mini Server needs and cant find in the retail version of OS X 10.6.3.

*Follow this comprehensive instruction list. This looks time consuming and rather interactive but reports are positive.

*This is how I did it:

*

*Get another mac running OS X Client 10.6.6 (or at least 10.6.4) with firewire 800 connection AND Get a   male-male Firewire 800 cable.

*Reboot your Mac Mini Server in "Target Disk Mode" (using System Preferences>Start up Disk).

*Hook both macs with your Firewire 800 cable and wait for the Mac mini to mount as a disk on your other mac. Both of your Mac Mini internal drives will mount (unless raid 0 etc).

*Launch Disk Utility (/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility), select the hard drive from your Mac mini you want to be your new OS X Client drive = target drive.

*If you haven't yet, you need to erase that target drive and get it formated in Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) and Partitioned using the GUID Partition Table scheme (this step is thoroughly explained elsewhere, sorry I'm not allowed to use more than one hyperlink).

*Now the real meet: Click the Restore tab. Select target disk (the one from the previous step) and the source disk (which is the other mac's drive running OS X Client) and go for it.

*Wait the three hours and done. Unmount your Mac Mini Server drives and re-boot it and voila !! Your mac mini server now has a perfect, 1:1 copy of the other's mac Hard drive, which is running OS X Client *,**.

*If it boots back onto OS X Server, it did so using the other internal drive in which you had Server running. Launch System Preferences>Start Up Disk and select the newly restored drive with OS X Client and reboot. Done
** Your 'restored' drive now is a 1:1 copy of the other mac. So you must have access to an administrator account from the other mac to start tweaking your mac mini.
This worked flawlessly for me, and I had no problems with hardware or software whatsoever.
Hope this helps.

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